We've been asked a few times what this year's plan's are for the land. I thought I'd list them here, and that way, I'm certain not to lose my list in my current spring-cleaning:

1. Finish the road. We've had some amazing work done on the long driveway, but there are definitely sections that a less-than-rugged car would struggle through. We are going to put gravel down on the entire road, level it, and widen some areas to make it a not-so-scary driveway -and one that can be plowed this coming winter. We are also clearing and de-stumping some areas to provide parking that is not directing in our front yard.

2. Build the kitchen. Another 'as soon as the snow is gone' project, like the road. When the kitchen is up we have an oven all ready to go in, and we'll be bringing in a refridgerator and clearing most of the cooking things out of the yurt -which will leave us a lot of new space for other things. My wheel is also going to be living in the kitchen for a while, giving me a place to throw again!

3. Lots of clearing and wood processing. To make sure we have somewhat seasoned firewood for this coming winter and to make space for..

4. Planting! Gardens, flowers, berries, fruit trees - we are looking forward to growing most of our own produce and herbs, as well as just creating a beautiful view all around us. Thankfully, we are blessed with an abundance of blackberry plants, which we will be encouraging to spread, an abundance of space, and a wonderful collection of friends and family who want to share some of their plants with us!

5. Well. We want to have the well in this year. It would make water-gathering an easier task, certainly. The placement of the well though, depends on where we decide to build our "real" house - we don't want to drill too far away. So picking the final location is essential this year, and final decisions are always so final.

6. Solar-shower & setting up a bathtub. As much as I think my skin has really benefited from the lack of daily showers, it will be especially nice to have the option at least to bathe whenever I'd like to. The solar-shower will be a summer set up, but a bath-tub can be all-season, if it is kept out of the wind and clear of snow. It is essentially an old-fashioned, cast-iron tub set up over a low fire-pit or propane stove. Then the water is heated much as it would be on a stove.

7. Finish making the outhouse pretty. We need to paint, add some shelving, and finish up the outer walls to make our outhouse ideal.

I'm sure there are more projects on our 2011 to-do list, but these are the primary projects. We're eagerly awaiting the end of all snow so that we can truly begin.